Flickering Star
by Amethyst Anenara
Summary: Chapter One UpThe energy of the group, Robin's precious outsider, is dead. ....Or is she?
1. Default Chapter

Flickering Star  
  
Disclaimer:  
  
Beast Boy: Dude, diclaimers stink!  
  
Robin: Well, ya don't want the girl to get sued or anything, do ya?! Then we'd sorta be out of a fan!  
  
Beast Boy: Oh...right...yeah...  
  
Cyborg: A'ight, so how 'bout this: The girl owns squat. Leave 'er be, or else I'll sick Starfie on ya.  
  
Starfire: Now why would you want to make them sick with a disease after my name?  
  
Cyborg: ....It's hopeless....  
  
~  
  
Prologue-  
  
Slade's bot was running along the building, and turned to look back down at the ground, where the four teenagers that were starting to get to their feet. Wait--four? Where was the fifth? That alien girl? Looking around, he spotted her, eyes glowing, green energy surrounding her fists as she glared at him. "You have injured my friends!" she cried, throwing the two energy blasts at him. "You must pay for this!" The bot dodged the attacks, and glared up at her.  
  
Starfire had never felt this furious before; she was so livid, she could hear her adrenaline pounding through her blood in her ears. She saw this robot through a vision of red, seeing only him. She didn't even hear Robin calling her name, "Star, don't do it! He'll-" She flew at him, blocking out all instinct other than to protect her friends. The robot waited, then leapt at her, both colliding and flying upward. Robin stumbled to his feet, Cyborg by his side.  
  
"What do you think...?"  
  
"C'mon, Titans, we've gotta help her!" Robin cried, his command ringing through every injury in each of their bodies. Raven's mouth, though covered by her hood, was bleeding immensely, as was her forehead, and she unwillingly had to lean on Beast Boy for support, even though he was just barely standing himself. They hadn't even been expecting the attack; it was a good thing Starfire, who'd been out 'shopping for candy,' had come to the tower just in time to find Slade's newest bot, Graveller, attacking her friends with his strange ability to summon up the earth and--uh--throw it at incredible speeds. Starfire, of course, had become furious. As Robin looked upward, having a basically immobile team, he saw what, to normal people, would have been a firework show. Flashes of blue, and green, which he took to be Starfire, and red, and grey were decorating the clouds, but neither friend nor foe could be seen. Finally, there was a huge explosion, and the group's eyes widened as they saw their outsider amongst outsiders fall into the water that surrounded the island where the tower was located.  
  
"STAR!!" Robin cried, and, despite his injuries, ran to dive in the water and rescue her. Cyborg reached out and stopped him.  
  
"Robin, it's too late," he muttered, watching Graveller swoop down to collect the body, that hung limp in his arms. Robin watched in horror, replaying the scene over and over in his mind. No, she couldn't be...  
  
"I didn't sense her life energy," Raven said, for once her emotionless tone gone, a hint of sorrow lacing her voice. "She is dead."  
  
Robin fell to his knees, punching the ground, "No, dammit, no!" The others could only watch him, as tears spilled from beneath his mask, and he watched Graveller fly off with his precious Starfire. Beast Boy, for once, had nothing to say. He just stood there, in shock, as the sun set. Starfire, their completely optimistic, caring, and loving outsider amongst society, their girl from another world, the energy of their group, was dead. Dead and gone.  
  
...Or was she?  
  
~  
  
Raven- Please; as if I'd get sentimental over that...?  
  
Robin- Yeah, dude, what the heck was up with me?  
  
Starfire- Would you not be upset if I were to die?  
  
Robin- *blushes* Uh...yeah, Starfire, I would. But not punch-the-ground upset...  
  
Starfire- Oh...well, I suppose it is dangerous and harmful to be punching the ground...  
  
Beast Boy- Oh, get a room already...  
  
Starfire- I have a room! It's pretty, and has a lot of stuffed-  
  
Authoress- Uh, yeah, um...please review^^ 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One-  
  
Raven- Am I...going to be sad again in this chapter?  
  
Authoress- Hush, you'll see eventually.  
  
Robin- Is Star gonna be okay?  
  
Authoress- YOU'LL SEE EVENTUALLY!! ...*ahem* Thanks, everyone, for all your reviews^^   
  
Brie: I know she would, but you know she'd never admit it. And you'll find out why they took her soon.  
  
Troubled-Ego: lol, yeah, poor her...  
  
MonkeyHood: Uh...I'm sorry^^;;;  
  
Wolver: Thanks much^_^  
  
Teen Titan Gal: Shhh, you're giving it away! ~_^  
  
Shadowsque: Um...I'm sorry? And you'll get a lot of what you asked for in this chapter, so don't you worry^^  
  
StarryNight: Thank you^_^ I'll keep it updated regularly, I promise!  
  
~  
  
The Teen Titan tower was silent. Silent, still, as if it were an abandoned building. Crimes were went to be solved by the police, everyone in Gotham was wondering if the Titans had gone on vacation, or been defeated. If they had, their security on the tower was still all good. No one could go near it. However, inside the tower, things were a bit different. Robin had locked himself up in his room; not leaving it even to eat. He stayed there, on his bed, slumped in a such a position that one would assume he'd lost the most important thing he owned. In some ways, he had lost something very important, but he'd never owned Starfire; no one could. She was an untamed beauty who'd come into their lives and had been taken away from them- from him- just as quickly.  
  
Beast Boy hadn't even looked at a game since that day, and Cyborg claimed that he was so low on power he never felt like doing anything, but mysteriously, never had to charge his battery either. Raven, whom had always so complained about the noise Starfire and the boys made, couldn't even read a book anymore without getting frustrated and throwing it through a window. They were a mess, it was safe to say. What was worse, Raven hadn't had any premonitions at all, much less about where Slade had Starfire's body, and they couldn't even give her a proper burial.  
  
It had been four days. Four long, miserable days. And still nothing. No Slade, no Graveller, no nothing. Robin was slumped in his bed, as usual, when Cyborg came in to check on him, "Hey, Bird Boy."  
  
Robin merely lifted a few fingers in response, and Cyborg stood beside the bed, arms crossed. "So, Man, what's new?" Robin's shoulder's lifted and fell in a weak attempt at a shrug. "Dude...you really need to leave this room. Even leaving this bed would be an accomplishment."  
  
"Hm," Robin replied dumbly.  
  
Cyborg gave him a sympathetic look, "Okay, man, I know it hurts. But Starfire's gone and you have to accept that!"  
  
"Why?" Robin's voice made his friend look at him in complete shock. He sounded so...vulnerable.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Why do I have to accept it? It's so much easier not to. It's easier pretending that she's right outside, about to knock on the door with some new question..." Robin's voice trailed off, and he swiped at his eyes quickly. Cyborg drew a sigh, but got a determined light in his eyes, and went over to Robin, lifting him up by his collar.  
  
"Rob, do you THINK Starfire would have wanted you moping around your room and feeling sorry for yourself the rest of your life? Think for a minute, dammit! She's gone, and she died because she was doing something you obviously don't have the guts for; standing up to her fears. Think about that in your depressed little egotistic mind, why don't you?"  
  
"I'm not egotistic," Robin replied calmly. Cyborg tossed him back on his bed, frustrated with him.  
  
"I give up. One day, you'll see Star again, and you know what? She'll be frowning at you, cuz you don't deserve her smile," Cyborg taunted, slamming the door behind him. Raven was waiting there when he turned around, arms crossed.  
  
"Ya think he deserved that?" she asked.  
  
"I think he deserves to be pummeled through a wall, thrown down to the pits of hell, and doubled over with a good sucker-punch." He stomped off, looking heavily aggravated. Raven raised an eye brow at him, then shook her head and flew off.  
  
Robin lay where Cyborg had left him, going over his words one by one in his mind. Then he looked up at the ceiling. "Ya know, Star...I really don't deserve your smile if I'm going to act like this, do I?" He turned on his stomach, and thought, "That asshole Graveller ought to be stomped into dust." A strange expression crossed Robin's face, and he crossed his room to his closet, and opened it to look over the Red X costume. He stood there, arms crossed, one hand to his chin, deep in thought...then he took it off the hanger. "If there's anyone who can get revenge for what he did to Star, it's me..."  
  
~  
  
She opened her eyes groggily, and winced. Her arm was lying at an odd angle at her side, and it didn't look too healthy. There was also a deep gash in her side, that would have to wait to be looked at. For a moment, she wondered where she was, then looked up. Large overlights were lighted on her, and she felt eyes watching her. She sat up.  
  
"Oh, Starfire, you're awake!" said an eerie voice that came from all directions.  
  
"Who are you, where have you taken me, and what have you done with my friends?" Starfire cried, struggling to get to her feet. She was in a large, round room, surrounded by mirrors that looked suspiciously like those windows Robin had told her about, where the person on the other side could see you.  
  
"Don't fear; your questions will be answered shortly." Starfire grew impatient, and attempted to fly at the windows, her anger lighting up her good hand with the usual green energy, but her blasts didn't phase the glass. The voice's owner cleared his throat. "Starfire, you may want to take a gander at your ankle." She did; there was a strange-looking piece of jewelry attached to her ankle.  
  
"Thank you but, I don't like jewelry from strangers," she said, kneeling and pulling at it. She jumped as it shocked her with an electric shock.  
  
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'd have thought you were a bit smarter than that, Starfire. That little anklet is one of my creations, designed to keep all of you and your powers at bay." Starfire sat cross-legged on the ground at this, frustrated, and glared all around her, eyes glowing their bright green. "Just sit tight, girl. I have little use for you now; but I may yet be able to let you go."  
  
"I may be of what use to you?" Starfire asked after a pause.  
  
"You'll see. I just need you fully rested up, and that broken arm will need a few weeks to heal. But then, you'll be free. So, for once in your life, trust someone other than your friends," the voice commanded, making Starfire jump again, this time with recognition of that tone. She'd heard it somewhere before...but, really, she had little to no choice but to obey, and 'sit tight,' although the phrase sounded a bit uncomfortable. So, Starfire waited, trying to match the voice with a name, and the tone with the voice.  
  
~  
  
The hunter prowled, stooping down low to watch over the buildings of Gotham. The building it stood on overlooked the entire city, but what it was really interested in was the large T-shaped building, located on a small island nearby. It saw this building, and leapt from tower to tower in order to reach the beach just across from it. There, it stopped. The boy wonder, Robin, was not here. Nor was the alien girl, Starfire. The hunter already knew of there whereabouts, and didn't worry about them. But it did need to kill the rest of the Teen Titans, before the two of the others returned. First, though, the hunter needed the weakest link; and it knew where to look for that. A grin spread across its face, unseen because of the dark cloak that it wore. The Teen Titans' weakest link, was the one most like the hunter. The weakest link, was Beast Boy.  
  
~  
  
Starfire: Again with a non-chalantly short chapter?  
  
Robin: *raises eyebrow* And where did I go with my Red X costume?  
  
Beast Boy: And who the hell is this that thinks I'M the weakest link of the group?! Dude, that sucks!  
  
Raven: You. Are. Pathetic.  
  
Cyborg: Yeah, man, how long did it take you to type up this freaking short chapter?!  
  
Authoress: Okay, okay, enough questions. Seriously, I just went through two tons of schoolwork (thanks to Indian War reports...) and I JUST got another chapter of my Cyborg 009 fic up, so I'm trying to get these chapters updated at the same time...*not to mention, my freaking account keeps freezing...* 


End file.
